Problems To Be Addressed: Occupied Territories — Netherlands — By: Nik Purohit
What were the circumstances in the [Netherlands] that compelled the policies implemented by the occupying power there? How was policy shaped to address these circumstances?
Occupying Power: Nazi Germany
Invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940
May 15 1940—one day after the bombing of Rotterdam—the Dutch forces finally surrendered
Dutch government and the royal family went into exile in London
Netherlands placed under German occupation—until 1945
Circumstances in the Netherlands
Neutrality Status
Before WWII, the Dutch government was able to preserve its neutrality throughout the entire conflict
Hence, after the war—the “inter-war period”—they continued this foreign policy and stance of neutrality in the geopolitics of the region, even after the Nazi surge to power in Germany
The rise of the Nazi Party in Germany in 1933 changed the geopolitics of the region as policymakers had to now evaluate or consider a new leader and possible threat
Prime Minister Colijn of Netherlands (conservative), who served from 1933 to 1939, believed that the Netherlands would not be able to survive an attack by a major power, as a result military spending was a low priority
Eventually military spending was doubled between 1938 and 1939, as a result escalating international tension in the region, however it was only 4% of national spending—meanwhile in Germany military spending compromised 25% of national spending
Amid increasing tension, the Dutch government believed that it would be able to rely on its neutrality, or the informal support of foreign powers to defend its interests in the scenario of conflict
Though, the government eventually did begin work on plans for defense of the country
The significance of this is that once war had already been declared among France, Great Britain, and Germany—Germany issued a guarantee of neutrality to the Netherlands, thereby pacifying them and putting “their guard down”
“The new Reich has endeavored to continue the traditional friendship with Holland. It has not taken over any existing differences between the two countries and has not created any new ones.” — German guarantee of Neutrality, October 6 1939
Despite its policy of neutrality, the Netherlands was invaded by Germany on the morning of 10 May 1940, without a formal declaration of war
The Dutch military, with insufficient and outdated weapons and equipment, was caught largely unprepared, as much of its weaponry had not changed since WWI
This false-guarantee of neutrality is the “policy” that Germany took advantage of in order to pursue its interests, as for example they used Dutch airfields on the coast to launch raids on Great Britain—they used the Netherlands as a strategic pivot point to pursue their interests in the region and establish their supremacy
National Politics and state of National Economy
Between 1929 and 1940, the Dutch governments were dominated by Christian and rightist (center-right) parties
From 1933, the Netherlands were suffering from a Great Depression that had begun in 1929
Prime Minister Colijn pursued a program of extensive cuts to maintain the value of the country’s currency
Result
Workers’ riots and naval mutiny (1933-1934)
1936—government forced to abandon gold standard
Depression created theatmosphere for numerous fascist movement to emerge in the Netherlands, inspired by Italian Fascism or German Nazism
The movements never managed to attract enough followers to become a mass-movement, through the pro-Nazi movement and sentiments in the Netherlands, was just enough to make an impact as it was supported by the Nazi Party (which had just taken power in Germany)
Though the “Nazi-style racial ideology” had limited appeal in the Netherlands, along with its call for mass violence and genocide
Upon invasion, Germany was easily able to occupy the Netherlands due to pro-Nazi support that already existed in national politics and the region
City of Rotterdam after German terror bombing
What were the effects of the occupation of [Netherlands] on the occupying power's war effort? This should include basic data such as numbers of troops diverted to the occupation and so forth, but should also take into account less logistical factors such as the psychological effect of occupation on the occupying power, issues of morale, attitudes of occupation forces toward the local population (and vice versa) and the degree to which that sharpened or dulled the occupiers' resolve, etc.
Life under German occupation
Refusal of the Dutch government to return after German invasion and control led to the Netherlands being controlled by a German civilian governor
The civil government, the “Reichskommissariat Niederlande”, was headed by the Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart
German occupiers implemented a policy of Gleichschaltung—"enforced conformity"—and systematically eliminated non-Nazi organizations
1940—the German regime immediately outlawed all Socialist and Communist parties
1941—the German regime forbade all parties, except for the NSB
Gleichschaltung was an enormous shock to the Dutch
Dutch people traditionally had separate institutions for all main religious groups, particularly Catholic and Protestant, because of decades of pillarization
As a result of the anti-religious nature of Gleichschaltung, the process was opposed by the Catholic Church in the Netherlands, and in 1941 all Roman Catholics were urged to leave associations that had been “Nazified”
Nazi Germany also tried to incorporate the Netherlands into the Greater Germanic Reich
Adolf Hitler thought very highly of the Dutch people, who were considered to share the ethnic and racial characteristics of the Aryan "master race" Hitler idealized
Luftwaffe — German Aerial Branch a.k.a. German Air Force
The Luftwaffe was interested in the Netherlands, as the country’s geographic location proved conducive to its interests: raids on the United Kingdom
As a result, the Netherlands was designated to become the main area for the air force bases from which to attack Great Britain
The Germans started construction of 10 so-called Fliegerhorste, major military airports, on the day after the formal Dutch surrender
They had at least 2 or 3 hard surface runways, a dedicated railway connection, major built-up and heated repair and overhaul facilities, extensive indoor and outdoor storage spaces, and mostly housing and facilities for 2000 to 3000 men
Each Fliegerhorst also had an auxiliary and often a decoy airfield, complete with mock-up planes made from plywood
However, within a year, the attack strategy had to be altered to a defensive operation as the air war cost almost 20,000 airmen (Allied and German) their lives and 6,000 planes went down over the country - an average of 3 per day during the five years of the war
Overall, the Netherlands turned into the first line of western air defense for Germany and its industrial heartland of the Ruhrgebiet, complete with extensive flak, sound detection installations and later radar
Forced labor
The Arbeitseinsatz—the drafting of civilians for forced labor—was imposed on the Netherlands
Obliged every man between 18 and 45 to work in German factories, which were bombed regularly by the western Allies
Those who refused were forced into hiding
As food and many other goods were taken out of the Netherlands, rationing increased (with ration cards)
The scarcity of food provoked the resistance to at times raid distribution centers to obtain ration cards to be distributed to those in hiding
Atlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall—a gigantic coastal defense line—was built by the Germans along the entire European coast from southwestern France to Denmark and Norway, included the coastline of the Netherlands
Some towns were evacuated because of this
3,200 houses were demolished and 2,594 were dismantled, 20,000 houses were cleared, and 65,000 people were forced to move
The Arbeitseinsatz forced the Dutch to work on these projects; however, a form of passive resistance took place with people working slowly or poorly
Holocaust
The military regime began to persecute the Jews of the Netherlands
In February 1941, the Nazis deported a small group of Dutch Jews to Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
The Dutch reacted with the February strike, a nationwide protest against the deportations
Although the strike did not accomplish much—its leaders were executed—it was an initial setback for Seyss-Inquart as he had planned to both deport the Jews and to win the Dutch over to the Nazi cause
Manipulation—Before the February strike, the Nazis had installed a Jewish Council: a board of Jews who served as an instrument for organizing the identification and deportation of Jews more efficiently, while the Jews on the council were told and convinced they were helping the Jews
The Catholic Church of the Netherlands censured the government's action
As a result, the Nazi government treated the Dutch more harshly
1942—Concentration camps were built at Vught and Amersfoort
Eventually, with the assistance of Dutch police and civil service, the majority of the Dutch Jews were deported to concentration camps
Overall — of the 140,000 Jews who had lived in the Netherlands before 1940, only 30,000 survived the war
This high death toll had a number of reasons—one was because of the excellent state of Dutch civil records, as the Dutch state had recorded substantial information on every Dutch national, which allowed the Nazi regime to determine easily who was Jewish via the data
Also, because Jews needed to hide in others' homes and many people ended up helping them—a crime punishable by death—despite the risks, many Dutch people helped Jews
As a result, one-third of the people who hid Jews did not survive the war
What were the motivations/methods/outcomes of resistance and collaboration? How did this affect the Occupied Territory after the war? Use case studies to illustrate.
Motivations/methods/outcomes of resistance
The Dutch resistance developed relatively slowly, but its counter-intelligence, domestic sabotage, and communications networks provided key support to Allied forces beginning in 1944 and through the liberation of the country
However, discovery by the Germans of involvement in the resistance meant an immediate death sentence, which proved very risky
Difficulties: The country's terrain, lack of wilderness and dense population made it difficult to conceal any illicit activities, and it was bordered by German-controlled territory, offering no escape route, except by sea
Resistance in the Netherlands took the form of small-scale, decentralized cells engaged in independent activities
The communists CPN however organized resistance from the start of the war
Liberal democratic resisters who were to the Dutch government-in-exile in London, the LKP ("Nationale Knokploeg", or National Force Units, literal translation "Brawl Crew"), one of the largest resistance groups, numbering around 550 active participants
Heavily targeted by Nazi intelligence for destruction due to its links with England
Hiding & Sheltering
People known as “onderduikers” conducted one of the riskiest activities was hiding and sheltering refugees and enemies of the Nazi regime
Later in the war, these people protected downed Allied airmen
Members of Dutch Resistance
Motivations/methods/outcomes of collaboration
Not all Dutch offered active or passive resistance against the German occupation
Some Dutch men and women chose or were forced to collaborate with the German regime or joined the German army
Some were actively involved in capturing hiding Jews for a price and delivering them to the German occupiers
The Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (NSB) was the only legal political party in the Netherlands from 1941 and was actively involved in collaboration with the German occupiers
When WWII broke out, the NSB sympathized with the Germans, but advocated strict neutrality for the Netherlands
However, after the German invasion, 10,000 NSB members and sympathizers were put in custody by the Dutch government
When the German regime had outlawed all socialist and communist parties in 1940 and in 1941, it forbade all parties, except for the NSB
This lead to the NSB openly collaborating with the occupation forces
As a result NSB membership grew to about 100,000
Effects on the Netherlands after the war
After the war, some who were thought to have collaborated with the Germans were lynched or otherwise punished without a trial
This is because in order for the resistance to succeed, it was sometimes necessary for its members to feign collaboration with the Germans—hence after the war, this led to difficulties for those who pretended to collaborate when they could not prove they had been in the resistance—something that was difficult because it was in the nature of the job to keep it a secret
Men who had fought with the Germans were used to clear minefields and suffered losses accordingly
Others were sentenced by courts for treason
Some were proven to have been wrongly arrested and were cleared of charges, sometimes after having been in custody for a long period of time
The Dutch government initially developed plans to annex a sizable portion of Germany (Bakker-Schut Plan), either with or without German population — which in the latter case would have to be "Dutchified" — doubling the land area of the Netherlands
This plan was dropped after an Allied refusal
After the German signing of surrender on May 6, 1945, the NSB was outlawed
Mussert was arrested the following day
Many of the members of the NSB were arrested, but few were convicted; those who were included Mussert, who was executed on May 7, 1946
There were no attempts to continue the organization illegally
What were the effects of occupation on women & youth in the Occupied Territory? Use case studies to illustrate.
The women and children were significantly affected by the occupation
Because of many Jews being arrested, Jewish children were least likely to survive
Many fathers and brothers were interned as prisoners of war, and that resulted in the women and children being left behind with no one to support them
Others were drafted for slave labor in Germany
Many of the Dutch institutions were allowed to function as long as they did not interfere with Nazi policy, schools continued to operate
In the schools, the students ignored the propaganda that permeated the country and the teachers kept quiet about the government
Overall, it was a very anti-German environment:
However, the Germans did not try to forcefully educate the students like they did in their own country
The children suffered from starvation despite the racial connection between the Dutch and the “master Aryan race”
Bibliography Lagrou, Pieter. The Legacy of Nazi Occupation: Patriotic Memory and National Recovery in Western Europe, 1945-1965. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 2004. Questia School. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Spoerer, Mark and Fleischhacker, Jochen. “Forced Laborers in Nazi Germany: Categories, Numbers, and Survivors”. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History Vol. 33, No. 2 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 169-204. JSTOR. Web. 20 November 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3656586>.
Spoerer, Mark and Fleischhacker, Jochen. “The Compensation of Nazi Germany's Forced Labourers: Demographic Findings and Political Implications”. Population Studies Vol. 56, No. 1 (Mar., 2002), pp. 5-21. JSTOR. Web. 20 November 2013. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/3092938>.
Tammes, Peter. “Jewish Immigrants in the Netherlands during the Nazi Occupation”. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History Vol. 37, No. 4 (Spring, 2007), pp. 543-562. JSTOR. Web. 20 November 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4139477>.
Bibliography
Lagrou, Pieter. The Legacy of Nazi Occupation: Patriotic Memory and National Recovery in Western Europe, 1945-1965. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 2004. Questia School. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Spoerer, Mark and Fleischhacker, Jochen. “Forced Laborers in Nazi Germany: Categories, Numbers, and Survivors”. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History Vol. 33, No. 2 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 169-204. JSTOR. Web. 20 November 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3656586>.
Spoerer, Mark and Fleischhacker, Jochen. “The Compensation of Nazi Germany's Forced Labourers: Demographic Findings and Political Implications”. Population Studies Vol. 56, No. 1 (Mar., 2002), pp. 5-21. JSTOR. Web. 20 November 2013. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/3092938>.
Tammes, Peter. “Jewish Immigrants in the Netherlands during the Nazi Occupation”. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History Vol. 37, No. 4 (Spring, 2007), pp. 543-562. JSTOR. Web. 20 November 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4139477>.